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Madamai is a village in Kauru Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The community, located on a rocky terrain, is some three hours away from Kaduna main town; the community lacks healthcare centre, good road, schools and portable drinking water.

The journey to Madamai community which should ordinarily be a five minutes’ drive takes 20 to 25 minutes because of the bad roads which the residents say contributes to the death of many women in the area, especially those in labour.

Programme Director of a not-for-profit orgainzation, Development Communications (DEVCOMS) Network, Mr Akin Jimoh, has challenged social media influencers and online journalists to see the need to join the campaign in demanding for improved conditions for mothers and pregnant women at a one-day hangout session organized by the organization.

Speaking at the event, the Mr Jimoh expressed that it is about time the social media platform in Nigeria can become a more useful tool in demanding accountability in the healthcare sector on maternal mortality issues in the country.

Development Communications (DEVCOMS) Netowork has charged media gatekeeprs to produce news contents that demand accountability in the maternal health concerns in Lagos state and Nigeria in it's one-day Immersion Review and Investigative reporting Guidance meeting in Lagos.

Women and children in rural areas are not the only ones disproportionately affected by poor quality of maternal and child health care delivery. Those in communities few kilometers away from the city are faced with health threats also due to the absence of health facilities.

This was the case with Kakura community located in Kujama ward of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. NOTAGAIN Campaign media team visited this community and found very disturbing revelation with respect to accessing health care.

At a recent press briefing by a collective of health-oriented Non-Government Organisations, under the aegis of Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health, fearful details about the status of the health care delivery system of Nigeria were revealed.

One came away from the encounter with the fear that the Nigerian state was waging an undeclared biological warfare, a war of attrition, against its people; that the right of Nigerians to life was being threatened through the wilful negligence of the Nigerian state!

A modern Maternal and Child Health Centre built with the support of Japanese Government in Abaji Community, FCT, would start operations in November.

President of the Brethren in Nigeria, (a Religious organisation), Rev. Joel Billi told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the side line of the inauguration and handover of the clinic to Abaji Community, FCT.

Billi also said that a medical committee set up by the church had begun the process of recruiting medical personnel.

“We wrote a proposal to the Japanese Embassy requesting for sponsorship of the project to build the healthcare facility. The Japanese Government made available about 16 million naira for the project from the inception, minus staffing.

“Medical personnel would be recruited; we have plans to recruit medical doctors, but we are going to make use of visiting doctors come from time to time,” he said.

He said that by next week, recruitment will start and by the first week of November, the hospital would have taken off completely, as equipment provided would be put in place to ensure the smooth running of the hospital.

He further said that a committee comprising the church, the community and the local government would be set up to ensure proper and efficient management of the facility.

He expressed gratitude to the Japanese Government for its contributions to grassroots projects in the country.

The Japanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Sadanobu Kusaoke, who spoke earlier, reiterated that the Japanese Government had supported 152 projects with $10.4 million since 1998 in various sectors in the country.

Kusaoke was represented by the Medical Attache of the Japanese embassy, Mr Yoshiharu Furuichi.

The envoy said “promoting resilient health system” was one of Japan’s priority areas identified at the at sixth Tokyo International Conference on African Development.

“In the project for the construction of Gbogbodo Maternal and Child Health Centre, we are handing over a medical centre, a block of toilets and bathrooms, several medical equipment and a borehole.

“I believe that these provisions will contribute to better access to medical services and hygienic water supply in Abaji,” he said.

Lagos, December 2015 - As part of our NOTAGAIN Campaign project aimed at ending maternal deaths in Nigeria, we embarked on field visit with journalists from Print, Radio and Television to enable them have hands-on information on the experiences of women and children at the grassroots.

Kaduna, July 2016 – Women and children in rural areas are not the only ones disproportionately affected by poor quality of maternal and child health care delivery. Those in communities few kilometers away from the city are faced with health threats also due to the absence of health facilities.

Lagos, June 2016 - When NOTAGAIN Campaign Media team visited Igbologun, an island community in AmuwoOdofin Local Governmenr Area of Lagos State, we witnessed the helpless situation experienced by pregnant women and children in the community with respect to health care.